1.08.2011

Dolls and their Clothes: Super Easy Patterns

My girls love their new dolls. I love their new dolls. In fact, I secretly wish the red headed one was mine. Well, not so secretly. I'm impressed with how easily you can clean the skin, and I love that the wigs can be styled in lots of ways. It always bummed me out that the girl Cabbage Patch Kids had those huge bald spots when you took out their pig tails - but these dolls can have up or down do's. I braided them now, but look forward to trying some other hairstyles as the girls get a little older.

I loved the Weir kit I used. I know it would be satisfying to make one of these from scratch, but if you don't want to hunt down all the materials, and if you're looking to skip a few steps to save time, these kits are really great.

I wasn't sure if I'd get around to making clothes before Christmas. The Weir kit comes with clothing patterns that aren't too complicated, and the panties are so cleverly simple. But, they were still more work than I really had time (read: motivation) for. So, I fell back on this super easy pattern that I got from my Granny via an old bunny she made when I was a kid. This is the same pattern I used for L's baby dolls a couple of years ago. I also put together a quick pants pattern, that is pretty much the same as every pajama/baby/doll pant I've ever seen.

The shirt pattern has several things going for it: It's super easy and fast, which is great when you want to whip up a bunch to mix and match. Another nice thing, is that it's easy for children to learn to put on themselves - which Mommies are always grateful for. The elastic in the neck and the roominess of the blouse allows you to just slip it over the dolls head. Plus, the basic shape is easy to adapt to fit most any shape or size doll. I drafted mine for the 14" doll, but you can make it fit whatever you need.

So, when L told me she needed more pants, it gave me the motivation to get sewing again after such a long break. Yesterday, I put together two more pairs of pants, two shirts, two dresses (the shirt only longer), and one nightgown (the dress in flannel). The girls are really into dress up, so I'm anticipating lots of dolly dress up today.

I've put the pattern together for you, and it should work with most common 14" dolls (this includes Waldorf, American Girl dolls, and even Cabbage Patch Kids). It's a 2 page pdf, and all the instructions are inside the patterns so when you cut them out, you won't have to keep a separate page for instructions. Isn't that tidy? I've included basic instructions and guidelines for adapting the pattern to different size dolls. These are adapted from old doll clothes, so they aren't original to me - please, use them however you like. Download it here.

A few tips:
1. Pull the elastic in the neck tight so that it isn't too big. Also, the waldorf dolls are pretty skinny, so the elastic in the pants should be smaller than you expect.
2. To save time, cut out your pants with the bottom of the leg along the selvedge so that you don't have to hem the pants.
3. Use knit, quilting cotton, or fleece. This pattern seems to work with most anything.
4. To add a little shape to the dress, tie a ribbon around the waist.

19 comments:

Those dolls turned out so well! I did love my Cabbage Patch growing up but the bald spots were a bit of a turn off. Good tip using the selvage for the pants hem! A couple Christmases ago I made clothes for my cousin's Cabbage Patch and used old clothes, keeping hems and necklines intact as much as possible (less work for me!)

These look so good! I just bought a 12" Corolle doll specifically to fit clothes for my friends little girl in another city. Her mom told me that the specially sized clothes they sell for the doll are more expensive than her daughters own clothes! The first request is for a tutu pink :)

Thankyou so much for the quick and easy doll patterns. The tops and pants are so cute, and the instructions were so clear and easy to follow.I am making clothes for a 14" Berenguer lots to love baby.It's hard to find clothes to fit these chubby dolls.The first top I made didn't fit her because she had such a chubby neck and arms, but it did fit another skinnier Berenguer baby that we have.I usually hate to make alterations because it seems difficult and time consuming.But I used your suggested adaptions which were really fast and easy, and I made another top that was a perfect fit.The clothes are a great stash debuster.

Hello, just to let you know that I think your patterns look fantastic. I'm going to try them out, and have linked to you on my blog (http://inkspotsandgrassstains.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/dolls-clothes-patterns.html). Thanks!

fantastic, my daughter-in-law made a Waldorf doll for her little girl for xmas, i have been searching the internet for a pattern to make some clothes and this is just perfect, all i need, thank you so much xxx

Thank you so much for the patterns! I used them to make pjs for my son's doll and I know I'll use them again and again. Writing the instructions on the patterns themselves was a brilliant move. If you're curious, check out what I made here: http://saidosdaconcha.blogspot.co.nz/2014/11/pijamas-condizer-para-um-rapaz-e-o-seu.html

Thank you so much for this post! I'm going to attempt to make clothes for my daughters' 14" dolls.... only problem is I cannot get the "download here" link to work. It goes to an error page "keep & save" that says the information isn't available. Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong? Thank you!